Team Webster Fired Up for Sophomore Year

Crystal Webster made a dramatic change to her lineup prior to the outset of the 2011-2012 curling campaign and it was one that came very close to a major breakthrough on the national scene.

Crystal Webster (Photo CCA/Michael Burns)

After recruiting two of the game’s brightest young stars from Prince Edward Island – Erin Carmody and Geri-Lynn Ramsay – the Calgary skip bowed out in the semi-final of the provincial playdowns to eventual champion Heather Nedohin. After a measurement in the final frame Nedohin was awarded a game-tying single and moved on to steal the victory in the extra end.

It was the second near miss for the Calgary skip who is still looking for a first appearance at the national championship. Webster came even closer to taking the next big step at the Alberta Scotties playdowns the previous year, losing the final game to the Valerie Sweeting team.

Carmody and Ramsay made their Scotties Tournament of Hearts debuts in 2010 throwing fourth and third stones on the P.E.I. team skipped by Kathy O’Rourke that finished first in round robin play. The Islanders’ hot streak came to an end in the championship final when Manitoba’s Jennifer Jones won her third consecutive Scotties title.

The Webster foursome, rounded out by lead Samantha Preston, earned a spot in the 2012 Capital One Canada Cup with a seventh-place finish in the Canadian Team Ranking System standings.

With the first full season under their belts the team is off to a solid start this fall, reaching the women’s final in the Shoot-Out at Edmonton’s Saville Centre and the quarter-finals of the Prestige Hotels & Resorts Curling Classic in Vernon.

“You Gotta Be There” when the country’s top 14 teams – seven men’s and seven women’s – compete for the 2012 Capital One Canada Cup title November 28-December 2 in Moose Jaw’s Mosaic Place. Get your seats before they all sell out just by clicking here.